Liquid-collecting mechanism with arrayed mesh collection area and smart toilet containing same

ABSTRACT

A liquid collecting mechanism that includes a liquid collection tube arm and a liquid collection tube head fixed at a front end of the tube arm. A sealing spacer is arranged at a joint connecting the liquid collection tube head and the liquid collection tube arm, and the liquid collection tube head is internally provided with a liquid collection cavity. An area of the liquid collection tube head located above the liquid collection cavity is a mesh collection area, and a plurality of collecting holes is provided in the mesh collection area. The mechanism includes a liquid suction tube passing through the tube arm and tube head, and the liquid suction tube has an open first end located in the liquid collection cavity and an open second end configured to connect with a pump body mechanism.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of and priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 20181032512.4, which was filed on Jan. 12, 2018, and is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of urine detection technologies, and more particularly, to a liquid-collecting mechanism with an arrayed mesh collection area and a smart toilet containing the same.

BACKGROUND

Currently, most urine detections are performed in hospital after the examinees manually, collect urine thereof. Finishing the urine detection in hospital not only requires registration in hospital for treatment, but also has hygienic problems. Some of the present smart toilets perform urine detection by collecting urine in an inside surface of the toilet, which causes the cross-contamination problem of the urine sample, so that the detection result is inaccurate. Further, according to Chinese Patent Application No. 201610279185.3), titled A LIQUID-COLLECTION DEVICE AND A SMART TOILET CONTAINING THE SAME, the liquid-collection device can flexibly collect the urine in the air, which is simple and convenient, and also avoids cross contamination. However, a suction tube assembly in the liquid-collection device needs to move continuously under the drive of a driving mechanism to search for urine, so as to collect dispersed urine. And the urine in the cavity of the suction tube assembly is not easy to be completely emptied, which easily leads to unclean flushing and affects the accuracy of the result.

Thus, it can be seen that the existing liquid-collection devices and methods are inconvenient and have defects, and need to be further improved. How to create a liquid-collecting mechanism with an arrayed mesh collection area and a smart toilet containing the liquid-collecting mechanism so as to have simple structure, accurate result and low cost is one of the important research and development topics currently underway.

SUMMARY

A technical problem to be solved by the present disclosure is to provide a liquid-collecting mechanism, which can realize liquid-collection in air with low cost and in a simple and reliable manner, so as to overcome the defects of the existing liquid-collecting mechanism device.

In order to solve the technical problem above, the present disclosure provides a liquid-collecting mechanism, which includes:

-   -   a liquid-collection tube arm;     -   a liquid-collection tube head fixed at a front end of the         liquid-collection tube arm, wherein a sealing spacer is arranged         at a joint of the liquid-collection tube head and the         liquid-collection tube arm, the liquid-collection tube head is         internally provided with a liquid-collection cavity, an area of         the liquid-collection tube head located above the         liquid-collection cavity is a mesh collection area, and the mesh         collection area is provided with a plurality of collecting         holes; and     -   a liquid-suction tube, wherein an opening at one end of the         liquid-suction tube is located in the liquid-collection cavity,         an opening at the other end of the liquid-suction tube passes         through the sealing spacer and the liquid-collection tube arm,         and is used for being connected with a pump body mechanism.

As an improvement of the present disclosure, the plurality of collecting holes in the mesh collection area are arranged in an array arrangement mode.

Another improvement, the liquid-collection tube head is provided with an air discharge hole or an air discharge groove communicated with the liquid-collection cavity.

Another improvement, the liquid-collecting mechanism can include a liquid-discharge tube, an opening at one end of the liquid-discharge tube is located in the liquid-collection cavity, and an opening at the other end of the liquid-discharge tube passes through the sealing spacer and the liquid-collection tube arm, and is used for being connected with the pump body mechanism.

Another improvement, a portion of the tube wall of the liquid-discharge tube located in the liquid-collection cavity can be further provided with an auxiliary liquid-discharge hole.

Another improvement, a plurality of auxiliary liquid-discharge holes can he arranged in an array along an axial direction of the liquid-discharge tube.

Another improvement, the liquid-suction tube and the liquid-discharge tube can be fixedly connected side by side.

Another improvement, a portion of the liquid-discharge tube in the liquid-collection cavity can be integrally formed with the liquid-collection tube head.

Another improvement, a portion of the liquid-suction tube in the liquid-collection cavity can be integrally formed with the liquid-collection tube head.

Another improvement, the liquid-collection tube head, the liquid-collection tube arras and the sealing spacer can be integrally formed.

Another improvement, at least one of the liquid-collection tube head and the liquid-collection tube arm can be integrally formed with the sealing spacer.

Another improvement, the liquid-collecting mechanism can include a liquid level sensing unit used for monitoring a liquid volume collected in the liquid-collection cavity in real time.

Another improvement, the liquid level sensing unit can include a steel needle, a control circuit board and a wire, one end of the steel needle is arranged in the liquid-collection cavity, its end face is located at an upper portion of the liquid-collection cavity and does not exceed a vertical plane of the collecting hole closest to the liquid-collection tube arm end, and the other end of the steel needle is connected with the control circuit board through the wire.

The present disclosure further provides a smart toilet, the smart toilet includes the liquid-collecting mechanism above, and when the liquid-collecting mechanism collects urine, the urine is received by the plurality of collecting holes in the mesh collection area.

After using the design, the present. invention at least has the following advantages.

According to the present invention, the area for collecting the urine is increased through the arrangement of the array mesh collection area, the method for moving a position of the urine-suction hole by using a driving mechanism in the prior art is replaced, so that the cost is reduced, and meanwhile, blockage caused by foreign impurities entering into the liquid-collection tube may be prevented, and the problem of splashing urine may be avoided.

According to the present invention, a plurality of liquid-discharge holes is arranged at different positions in the liquid-discharge tube, so that a speed of discharging cleaning liquid may be greatly increased, and the cleaning liquid at each position in the liquid-collection cavity can be discharged out.

According to the present invention, the air discharge hole or the air discharge groove is arranged to prevent the liquid-collection cavity from forming an air trapping area while collecting liquid, so as to solve the problem that the liquid-collection cavity cannot be fully with the urine.

The liquid-collecting mechanism of the present disclosure is simple in structure, safe and reliable, and low in manufacturing cost, and the liquid-collecting mechanism has faster liquid discharge speed and higher evacuation rate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing description is merely a summary of the technical solutions of the present invention. To understand the technical means of the present invention more clearly, the present invention is further described in detail with reference to the figures and the detailed embodiments hereinafter.

FIG. 1 is a structure diagram of a liquid-collecting mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a section view of the mechanism shown in FIG. 1 taken along line A-A in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of a structure of a liquid-collection tube arm in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 4 is a section view of the structure shown in FIG. 3 taken along line B-B in FIG. 3 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Taking the liquid-collecting mechanism used as a urine-collecting device of a smart toilet as an example, the embodiment describes the liquid-collecting mechanism in detail, which shall not be construed as any limitation on the liquid-collecting mechanism.

FIGS. 1-4 show an embodiment of a liquid collecting mechanism that is configured as a urine-collecting mechanism having a liquid-collection tube arm 1, a liquid-collection tube head 2, a liquid-suction tube 4, and a liquid-discharge tube 9.

The liquid-collection tube arm 1 is shown as a hollow tube fitting, a front end of the liquid--collection tube arm 1 is used for fixing the liquid-collection tube head 2, and a tail end of the liquid-collection tube arm 1 is provided with a tube running groove for leading out the liquid-suction tube 4 and the liquid-discharge tube 9. The liquid-collection tube head 2 is fixed at the front end of the liquid-collection tube arm 1. A sealing spacer 14 is arranged at a joint of the liquid-collection tube head 2 and the liquid-collection tube arm 1. The liquid-collection tube head 2 is internally provided with a liquid-collection cavity 3, where the liquid-collection cavity 3 is enclosed by the inner wall of the liquid-collection tube head 2 and the sealing spacer 14. An area of the liquid-collection tube head 2 located above the liquid-collection cavity 3 is a mesh collection area 6, and the mesh collection area 6 is provided with a plurality of collecting holes 6 a. In the illustrated embodiment, the plurality of collecting holes 6 a is arranged in an array arrangement mode, so that a larger area for collecting the urine can be obtained. Therefore, the method for moving a position of a urine-suction hole by using a driving mechanism in the prior art is replaced, which reduces the cost. Meanwhile, since the collecting holes 6 a have small diameter, blockage caused by external impurities entering into the liquid-collection tube may further be prevented, and the problem of splashing urine may be avoided. It shall be noted that the term “front end” as utilized herein refers to the end of the liquid-collecting mechanism that extends toward a center of a smart toilet employing the mechanism, and the term “rear end” as utilized herein refers to the end of the liquid-collecting mechanism that is configured to be proximate to an edge of the smart toilet.

Openings at one end of the liquid-suction tube 4 and one end of the liquid-discharge tube 9 are located in the liquid-collection cavity 3 (see FIGS. 2 and 4 ), and the other ends with openings of the liquid-suction tube 4 and the liquid-discharge tube 9 pass through the sealing spacer 14 and the liquid-collection tube arm 1 and are led out from the tube finning groove(s), and are used for being connected with a pump body mechanism, such as to suck the urine and discharge the waste under the effect of the pump body mechanism. The liquid-suction tube 4 and the liquid-discharge tube 9 can be formed by a rigid tube or a flexible tube, respectively, or may further be formed by the rigid tube connected with the flexible tube.

In order to prevent the liquid-collection cavity 3 from forming an air trapping area, the liquid-collection tube head 2 is provided with an air discharge hole or groove 11 communicated (e.g., in fluid communication) with the liquid-collection cavity 3. The air discharge hole or the air discharge groove 11 is preferably arranged on one side of the liquid-collection tube head 2 close to the liquid-collection tube arm 1. In this way, when the liquid-collecting mechanism collects the urine, the urine enters into the liquid-collection cavity 3 through the collecting holes 6 a of the mesh collection area 6, since the liquid-collecting mechanism is inclined downward by a certain angle, and gas in the liquid-collection cavity 3 can be discharged from the air discharge hole or the air discharge groove 11, thus solving the problem that the liquid-collection cavity 3 cannot be fully filled with the urine.

In the illustrated embodiment, a plurality of auxiliary liquid-discharge holes 9 a is provided on a tube wall of the liquid-discharge tube 9 located in the liquid-collection cavity 3. The plurality of auxiliary liquid-discharge holes 9 a is axially arranged in an array along the tube wall of the liquid-discharge tube 9. In this way, compared with the prior liquid-discharge tube with only one liquid-discharge port, liquid discharging speed and evacuation rate are greatly improved.

In the illustrated embodiment, the liquid-collection tube head 2, the liquid-collection tube arm 1, and the sealing spacer 14 are integrally formed (e.g., as a unitary member or element), and in this way, when the liquid-collecting mechanism is assembled, the liquid-suction tube 4 and the liquid-discharge tube 9 extend into the liquid-collection cavity 3 through a through hole in the sealing spacer 14. Since the liquid-suction tube 4 and the liquid-discharge tube 9 are both relatively thin, the liquid-suction tube 4 and the liquid-discharge tube 9 are particularly easy to be bent and deformed. To overcome this potential problem, the liquid-suction tube 4 and the liquid-discharge tube 9 can be fixedly connected together in a side by side arrangement, such as through welding or another process, so that the liquid-suction tube 4 and the liquid-discharge tube 9 jointly extend into the liquid-collection cavity 3 through the through hole in the sealing spacer 14. This reduces the difficulty of making the liquid-suction tube 4 and the liquid-discharge tube 9 extend into the liquid-collection cavity 3.

Certainly, the liquid-collection tube head 2, the liquid-collection tube arm 1, and the sealing spacer 14 can be separated (e.g., formed separately then coupled together), according to other embodiments. In this way, the size of the liquid-suction tube 4 and the liquid-discharge tube 9 passing through the sealing spacer 14 may be firstly sized according to a length of the liquid--collection cavity 3. Then, the sealing spacer 14 is installed in the liquid-collection tube arm 1. Finally, the liquid-collection tube head 2 is installed. This design greatly improves accuracy of the length of the liquid-suction tube 4 and the liquid-discharge tube 9 inserting into the liquid-collection cavity 3, and thus improves accuracy of locating the liquid-suction port and the liquid-discharge hole, and improves the evacuation rate of urine sample suction and waste discharge.

The liquid-collection tube arm 1 can be integrated with the sealing spacer 14 to omit the step of assembling the liquid-collection tube arm 1 and the sealing spacer 14 together during the assembly process. Also, the liquid-collection tube head 2 can be integrated with the sealing spacer 14 to omit the step of assembling the liquid-collection tube head 2 with the sealing spacer 14 during the assembly process.

In addition, in the embodiment, the parts of the liquid-suction tube and liquid-discharge tube within the liquid-collection cavity 3 can be integrated with the inner wall of the liquid-collection tube head 2. That is, the said parts of the liquid-suction tube and liquid-discharge tube are directly prepared on (e.g., connected to) the inner wall of the liquid-collection tube head 2 when preparing the liquid-collection tube head 2, thus avoiding a subsequent insertion operation. In this way, the portions of the liquid-suction tube and liquid-discharge tube extending out of the liquid-collection cavity 3 may be respectively connected with the pump body mechanism by a flexible tube.

In the embodiment, the liquid-collecting mechanism can further include a liquid level sensing unit used for monitoring a urine level collected in the liquid-collection cavity 3 in real time, and controlling the start and stop of the pump body mechanism according to the urine level in the liquid-collection cavity 3. The liquid level sensing unit, if provided, includes a steel needle 7, a control circuit board 8, and a wire 10 (e.g., electrical wire). The steel needle 7 can be made of stainless steel (or other suitable material) and serves as an input electrode of the liquid level sensing unit. One end of the steel needle 7 is arranged in the liquid-collection cavity 3, and its end face is located in an upper portion of the liquid-collection cavity 3 and does not exceed a perpendicular plane of the collecting hole 6 a closest to the liquid-collection tube arm 1. The other end of the steel needle 7 is electrically connected with the control circuit board 8 through the wire 10.

The detection principle of the liquid level sensing unit is that: when the urine level sucked in the liquid-collection cavity 3 has not yet contacted the end face of the steel needle 7, an input capacitance of the control circuit board 8 is equal to a reference capacitance inside the control circuit plus a capacitance of the steel needle 7 outside the control circuit and a capacitance of the wire 10. Since the capacitance of the steel needle 7 and the capacitance of the wire 10 are very small and negligible, the control circuit board 8 outputs a high level at the moment; when the liquid-collection cavity 3 is full of the urine or the urine contacts the end face of the steel needle 7, an external input capacitance of the control circuit board 8 is equal to the capacitance of urine in the liquid-collection cavity 3 plus the capacitance of the steel needle 7 and the capacitance of the wire 10. Since the capacitance of urine in the liquid-collection cavity 3 is much larger than the capacitances of the steel needle 7 and the wire 10, an input capacitance of the control circuit board 8 is equal to the reference capacitance of the control circuit plus the capacitance of urine in the liquid-collection cavity, and the control circuit board 8 outputs a low level at the moment. And at the moment, the pump body mechanism is controlled. to start to suck the urine in the cavity through the liquid-suction tube 4.

For embodiments where the liquid-collection tube head 2, the liquid-collection tube arm 1, and the sealing spacer 14 are separately constructed, the steel needle 7 is firstly inserted into the sealing spacer 14 to determine the length accuracy and verticality of the portion of the steel needle 7 inserting into the liquid-collection cavity 3, which thereby improves the accuracy of the liquid level detection.

According to the present invention, by improving the existing urine-suction hole, the area for collecting the urine can be increased through the array mesh collection area. The improvement of the urine-suction hole can replace the method for moving the position of the urine-suction hole by using a driving mechanism in the prior art, and thereby the cost is reduced, and meanwhile, blockage caused by the external impurities entering into the liquid-collection tube can be prevented, and the problem of splashing urine can be avoided. In addition, a plurality of liquid-discharge holes is distributed in the tube wall of the liquid-discharge tube in the liquid--collection cavity, so that the speed of discharging cleaning liquid can be greatly increased, and the cleaning liquid at each position in the liquid-collection cavity may be discharged.

The foregoing description is merely preferred embodiments of the present invention, but is not intended to limit the present invention in any form, and any simple amendments, equivalent changes or modifications made by those skilled in the art using the technical contents disclosed above shall all fall within the protection scope of the present invention. 

We claim:
 1. A liquid level sensing device, comprising: a needle having a first end arranged in a liquid-collection cavity and a second end, wherein the first end is located at an upper portion of the liquid--collection cavity and lies below a vertical plane of a plurality of collection holes; a control circuit board configured to control a pump body mechanism; and a wire electrically configured to connect the second end of the needle to the control circuit board.
 2. The liquid level sensing device of claim 1, wherein the liquid is urine.
 3. The liquid level sensing device of claim 1, wherein the needle is an input electrode of the control circuit board.
 4. The liquid level sensing device of claim 1, wherein the control circuit board controls a start and a stop of the pump body mechanism.
 5. The liquid level sensing device of claim 1, wherein the needle is made of steel.
 6. The liquid level sensing device of claim 1, wherein the device monitors a urine level collected in the liquid-collection cavity in real time.
 7. The liquid level sensing device of claim 1, wherein the pump body mechanism is controlled to suction the liquid in the liquid-collection cavity through a liquid-suction tube.
 8. A smart toilet comprising: a liquid level sensing device, the liquid level sensing device comprising: a needle having a first end arranged in a liquid-collection cavity and a second end, wherein the first end is located at an upper portion of the liquid--collection cavity and lies below a vertical plane of a plurality of collection holes; a control circuit board configured to control a pump body mechanism; and a wire electrically configured to connect the second end of the needle to the control circuit board.
 9. The smart toilet of claim 8, wherein the liquid level sensing unit is configured to monitor a liquid volume collected in the liquid-collection cavity in real time.
 10. The smart toilet of claim 8, wherein the pump body mechanism comprises an open end of a liquid-suction tube configured to connect with the pump body mechanism.
 11. The smart toilet of claim 8, wherein the control circuit hoard controls a start and a stop of the pump body mechanism according to the liquid level.
 12. The smart toilet of claim 8, where the liquid is urine.
 13. A method for detecting a liquid level comprising: determining if a liquid in a liquid-collection cavity has contacted an end face of a needle; comparing an external input capacitance of a control circuit to a reference capacitance inside the control circuit and a capacitance of the needle and a wire; and controlling a pump body mechanism to suction the liquid in the liquid-collection cavity through a liquid-suction tube when the external input capacitance is at least equal to the reference capacitance inside the control circuit plus a capacitance of the needle and the wire,
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein the liquid level in the liquid-collection cavity is detected in real time.
 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the liquid is urine.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein before the liquid has contacted the end face of the needle, the external input capacitance of the control circuit is at least equal to the reference capacitance inside the control circuit plus the capacitance of the needle and the wire.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein, the control circuit outputs a high level, indicating the liquid has yet to contact the end face of the needle.
 18. The method of claim 13, wherein the liquid-collection cavity is full of the liquid or the liquid contacts the needle, the external input capacitance of the control circuit is at least equal to the capacitance of the urine in the liquid-collection cavity plus the capacitance of the needle and the capacitance of the wire.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the control circuit outputs a low level, indicating the liquid-collection cavity is full of the liquid or the liquid contacted the needle.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the low level from the control circuit controls the pump body mechanism to start to suction the liquid in the cavity through the liquid-suction tribe. 